


Rest Ice Compression Elevation

by leiascully



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 09:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14829905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiascully/pseuds/leiascully
Summary: Everything about the bust was going according to plan until the hill.





	Rest Ice Compression Elevation

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: n/a  
> A/N: For a tumblr prompt.  
> Disclaimer: _The X-Files_ and all related characters are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and Fox Studios. No profit is made from this work and no infringement is intended.

Everything about the bust was going according to plan until the hill. They had staked out the suspect’s work and he’d shown up right on time. They’d climbed out of the car and flashed their badges. The guy had cut and run, just as they’d thought he would. They’d taken off in hot pursuit, sprinting in their dress shoes. Scully had almost kept up with Mulder despite her shorter legs, and they’d been making steady gains on the suspect until he turned and dashed down a hill. It was a rocky, hole-pocked slope, and halfway down, Scully’s heel got caught. She yelped as she went down, cradling her head in her hands as she rolled down the hill and knocked the suspect off his feet. Mulder cuffed him to a pole and called for backup as Scully sat up, clutching her head.

“You all right?” he asked.

She patted herself down. “I think so.” 

He held out a hand to help her up and she got halfway to her feet, yelped again, and collapsed back to the ground.

“My ankle,” she said. 

Mulder crouched in front of her and eased her shoes off. Her left ankle was already swelling, half again as big as her right ankle. He handed the heels to her and she hooked her fingers into the back of them.

“It’s a bad sprain at least,” he said.

“Oh, so you’re a doctor now?” she said, though her teeth were gritted. 

Mulder propped his elbows on his knees. “You’re not walking on it.” 

“I don’t have much of a choice,” she said.

Sirens wailed and a car skidded up. Mulder waved to the officers and they uncoupled the suspect from the pole and put him in the squad car. 

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way, Scully,” he said, and helped her stand on her good foot, his arm around her waist. He bent before she could protest and slid his other arm under her knees. She made a squeaking sound he never would have expected and flung her arm around his neck.

“Mulder, your back,” she said.

“Now that’s confidence, partner,” he said, starting up the slope.

“You two all right?” one of the officers said.

“We’re good,” Mulder said, careful not to slip in his nice shoes. Not a lot of traction on them, but Scully wasn’t very heavy. They’d manage. She was quiet in his arms, holding on tight, her shoes dangling from the hand that wasn’t around his neck.

“Thank you,” she said. 

“I wouldn’t leave you behind,” he said. “Or the car. You know the Bureau will put me on the rack if I don’t get it back to the garage. It’s their most innocuous vehicle.”

She let her head fall on his shoulder. “After we go to the emergency room?”

“Yeah,” he said. “After that.”

He had to set her on the hood of the car so he could get the door open. Together they maneuvered her into the passenger’s seat, trying not to jostle her ankle. The emergency room was crowded, but Mulder surreptitiously showed his badge to the nurse and got Scully seen.

“Just a sprain,” the doctor pronounced, peering at the X-ray. Scully’s bones were as delicate and precise as the rest of her, Mulder thought. “Stay off it as much as possible. Rest, ice, compression, elevation, the whole nine yards. And you’re going to want something for the pain. I’ll write you a prescription for something to make that a little easier. Your husband can get it filled.”

“Definitely,” Mulder said before Scully could protest. “I’ll get you a nice cushion to put your foot up on.”

The pills made her drowsy, so Mulder carried her from the car to her apartment and laid her down on the couch, stuffing a couple of pillows under her leg. 

“Need me to stay for a while?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said drowsily. “I do.”

“All right,” he said. “I’m here if you need me.” He draped his coat and his jacket over a chair.

“Mulder, the car,” she said, leaning up on her elbows.

“It can wait,” he told her, and watched her settle back, her eyes already closing.


End file.
